Method for pre-use storage of a medical receptacle

ABSTRACT

Medical suction apparatus is disclosed including in combination a rigid outer canister having a cover and a disposable semi-rigid inner liner or container. Mounting assembly means coacts with the canister and cover to seal the container within the canister. The container is a cup-like member which maintains its cup-like shape before, during and after use within the canister. A simple and efficient snap-fit mounting assembly includes an annular sealing support lid on the upper peripheral lip of the container. The lid is snap-fit mounted to the rim of the canister to support the container therefrom. This mounting also establishes a gap between the container and canister, as well as sealing such gap. The cover is snap-fit mounted to the annular lid to compress the container lip and an upper section of the container sidewall between the cover and the lid. This mounting seals the interior of the container. The lid may be released from the canister without breaking the seal between the cover and container. There is further disclosed an overall system for saving hospital storage space.

This is a division of application Ser. No. 113,620, filed Jan. 21, 1980,now U.S. Pat. No. 4,321,922.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to medical suction apparatus, and moreparticularly relates to a disposable suction collection linear andmounting assembly therefor.

BACKGROUND ART

Medical suction apparatus has long been used in hospitals to removefluids from patients during various medical procedures. Such suctionapparatus has included glass and plastic containers or receptacles forreceiving fluids.

Another type of apparatus used to receive and contain fluid from apatient includes a rigid outer canister having a disposable bag-likeliner therein, such as shown in Pannier Jr. et al. U.S. Pat. No.3,680,560 and in Deaton U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,745,999, 3,780,738 and3,814,098. Such liners are thin-walled pliable plastic members which donot have enough rigidity to maintain their shape. The canisters eachinclude a cover with a patient port for receiving fluid from a patientand a vacuum port for restablishing a vacuum within the liner. Thevacuum draws fluid through the patient port for collection in the liner.The vacuum port also applies countervailing vacuum to the space betweenthe outer canister and inner flexible liner in order to cause the linerto expand to an open configuration.

Prior receptacles with disposable flexible liners have suffered one ormore disadvantages. When the liner is filled with fluid and removed fromthe rigid outer canister, the liner is hard to handle and store becauseof its flexibility. Furthermore, since the liner is in the form of apliable bag filled with liquid, special disposal handling is required inorder to prevent puncturing or bursting due to contact with sharpobjects. The flexible liners also can provide erroneous liquid levelreadings if not fully opened during filling or while being handled.

Another drawback of prior receptacles with flexible liners is the lackof completely satisfactory mounting structure for the liner and cover inconjunction with the outer canister. The interior of the liner and thespace between the liner and the outer canister must both be sealed, butyet be easily removable when desired. A need has arisen to satisfy thesesealing and removal requirements with simple and efficient mountingstructure.

While prior receptacles wich disposable flexible liners have been usefulfor their intended purposes, the present invention relates toimprovements thereover, particularly in the liner and in a simple andefficient mounting assembly for the cover, liner and canister whichprovides significantly enhanced sealing characteristics.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

The present invention provides improved medical suction apparatus forreceiving fluids from the body of a patient. The invention includes incombination a rigid outer canister, a disposable semi-rigid inner lineror container, and a cover. A mounting assembly coacts with the canisterand cover to seal the container within the canister.

In preferred form, the containing is a cup-like member which retains itscup-like shape before, during and after use within the canister.Post-use shape retention simplifies disposal handling.

The mounting assembly is particularly efficient and providessignificantly enhanced sealing characteristics. In preferred form, thecanister has an open mouth defined by a rim, and the container has anopen mouth defined by a lip. The container lip is supported from thecanister rim preferably by an annular sealing support lid on thecontainer lip. The lid and container are preferably a one-piece unit.

The lid has an attachment portion snap-fitted to the canister rim. Thelid has a sealing portion extending laterally inwardly along thecanister rim. The lid has a securement portion which receives the coverin snap-fit relation. Snap-fit mounting of the cover to the lidcompresses the container lip between the cover and the sealing portionof the lid. The sealing portion of the lid extends inwardly beyond theinner edge of the canister rim and then downwardly a short distanceforming a wall portion between the upper sidewalls of the container andcanister. This wall portion of the lid establishes the space or gapbetween the container and canister.

The cover may be snap-fit mounted to the lid before or after snap-fitmounting of the lid to the canister. After use, the attachment portionof the lid may be released from the canister rim without breaking theseal between the cover and container lip. The cover, lid and containermay then be disposed of as a sealed sanitary unit, to avoidcontamination.

In another preferred aspect of the invention, a container seal is formedin a second plane in addition to the plane of sealing of the containerlip. The cover has a downwardly annular flange which engages theinterior of the upper sidewall of the container to pinch such sidewallagainst the wall portion of the lid. This sidewall seal is continuouswith the lip seal. The wall portion of the lid is pinched between theupper sidewalls of the container and canister, and this compressionprovides additional sealing. The flange portion of the cover and thewall portion of the lid further provide additional structural integrityof the above noted disposal unit.

In another preferred aspect of the invention, the interface of thesealing portion of the lid and the container lip has at least onetransition step between different vertical thicknesses of each.Additionally, the canister rim has a top pressure surface which engagesthe underside of the sealing portion of the lid beneath the transitionstep to provide an annularly localized sealing pressure line.

In another preferred aspect of the invention, the cover has an outeredge extending laterally beyond the container lip. The securementportion of the lid engages the outer edge of the cover and biases thisedge downwardly. This engagement point is offset outwardly of the outeredge of the container lip. The container lip has an inner annular thinportion and an outer annular thick portion. The lid has an inner raisedshoulder complementing the thickness transition of the containeer lip.An effective lever arm is formed through the cover from an area adjacentthe thin portion of the container lip to the outer edge of the cover.This provides a continuous resilient biasing force which maintainssealing compression of the container lip.

In another preferred aspect of the invention, the cover has a downwardlyextending annular lug adjacent its outer edge. The securement portion ofthe lid preferably comprises a plurality of peripherally spacedupstanding locking tabs engaging the top edge of the cover in snap-inrelation. The vertical dimension of the downwardly extending annular lugon the underside of the cover provides structural integrity around theperiphery of the cover to enhance uniformity of downward lever armbending force applied by the peripherally spaced locking tabs. Thispovides substantial annular uniformity in compression of the containerlip. The bottom of the annular lug on the cover is spaced a small gapabove the lid portion therebelow to enable snap-fit mounting of thecover edge past the locking tabs. This also enables slight downwarddeflection of the outer edge of the cover to maintain resilient sealcompression.

In another preferred aspect of the invention, the sealing portion of thelid has an upstanding annular lug incentric to the lug on the cover andconcentric to the outer thick portion of the container lip. This lug onthe lid has a small gap between the top thereof and the underside of thecover, so as not to interfere with compression of the container lip bythe cover. The lug on the lid interfits in registered relation with thelug on the cover underside.

In another aspect of the invention, a space saving system is providedwhich significantly enhances efficient use of hospital storage space. Aplurality of outer canisters are stackable with a minimum of verticaldead space therebetween. The containers are likewise stackable. The lidson the containers do not interfere with stacking. The receptacle may beassembled quickly at time of use by simple push down snap-in mounting.The coaction of the container, cover and canister is accurate andreliable.

In another aspect of the invention, an improved method is provided forreceiving and storing fluids from the body of a patient. A disposablesemi-rigid container is placed inside a rigid outer canister having anopen mouth defined by a rim. A container is supported from the canisterrim such that a space is formed between the wall surface of thecontainer and canister. A cover is placed over the open mouth of thecanister. The cover is retained in place by coacting with the container.Vacuum is placed to the interior of the container, and fluid is drawnfrom the patient into the container.

In a preferred aspect, the container is provided with a lid supportingthe container within the canister, and a covering step is providedwherein the container and canister are covered by the cover coactingwith the lid. In a further preferred aspect, the container has a lipextending from a sidewall, and the covering step includes resilientlycompressing both the sidewall and lip of the container.

The invention further provides a removal method wherein the cover andcontainer are removed from the canister with the coaction between thecover and container remaining effective.

Other aspects and advantages will become apparent hereinafter.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an isometric view, partially cut away, of an assembledreceptacle constructed in accordance with the invention.

FIG. 2 is an exploded sectional view of the receptacle of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the mounting details for the containerliner showing coaction of the sealing support lid with the cover andcanister.

FIG. 4 shows an alternate mounting arrangement to that of FIG. 3.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 illustrates a receptacle 10 for receiving fluids from the body ofa patient. The receptacle includes a rigid outer canister 12 whichsupports a disposable semi-rigid liner or container 14 therein. A cover16 is snap-fitted over the receptacle 10 and includes a vacuum port 18for connection to a vacuum source through a tube 19. The canister 12 hasa vacuum port 20 for parallel connection to the vacuum source through atube 21. Vacuum port 18 establishes a vacuum within the container 14 andvacuum port 20 establishes a slight vacuum in the space between thecontainer 14 and canister 12 in order to prevent an excessive pressuredifferential across the container 14. The cover 16 has a patient port 22for receiving fluids from the body of a patient through a tube 23. Thepatient fluids are drawn through patient port 22 by the vacuum withinthe container 14 and the fluid is collected within the continer 14. Apouring spout 24 is provided in the cover 16 and closed by a removablecap 26 for emptying the fluid within the container when the containerand cover are not disposed of as a sealed sanitary unit. Gradations, notshown, may be be provided on the side of container 14 to enable accuratedetermination of fluid volume therein.

Referring to FIG. 2, an automatic shut-off valve 28 is provided forclosing the vacuum port 18 when fluid within the container reaches apredetermined level. Valve 28 may comprise any one of a number ofshut-off valve designs, as for example the valve disclosed and claimedin the co-pending patent application entitled "Low Profile Shut-OffValve For Medical Suction Apparatus", Ser. No. 117,058, filed Jan. 31,1980.

Referring to FIG. 2, cover 16, container 14 and canister 12 arepreferably mounted and sealed in coaction by an annular sealing supportlid 30 attached about the top edge of container 14. The canister 12 hasan open mouth defined by an upper annular lateral rim 34 to whichsealing lid 30 is snap-fitted. Sealing lid 30 has a plurality of spacedupstanding locking tabs 38. The cover is pushed down past these lockingtabs is snap-fit relation to mount the cover 16 to lid 30. Cover 16 maybe snap-fitted to lid 30 before or after snap-fitting of lid 30 tocanister 12.

In preferred form, container 14 and lid 30 are formed as a one-pieceunit. Upon mounting of cover 16 to lid 30, the upper annular liner lip76 is sealingly compressed between cover 16 and lid 30 to form a vacuumtight seal. Container 14 and lid 16 may be removed as a unit fromcanister 12 by snap-fit release of lid 30 from rim 34. This removal doesnot break the seal between lip 76 and cover 16. This avoidscontamination by allowing disposal of the entire seal container.

The disposable container 14 is a semi-rigid plastic cup-like memberformed by injection molding of an inexpensive transparent plastic suchas high impact styrene and has a preferred thickness of approximately0.025 to 0.030 inch. The container 14 has sufficient rigidity to retainits desired cup-like shape in a pre-use condition at atmosphericpressure without vacuum applied thereto, but yet is thin enough to bequite economically manufactured and light enough to be easily shipped.This is particularly advantageous for ease of handling and for efficientspace saving stacking on a hospital shelf prior to use. As seen in FIG.2, the lid does not interfer with stacking of a plurality of containerswithin one another. The sidewalls of the container are tapered inwardlyas they extend down to form a frustroconical shape and further enhancepre-use stacking characteristics thereof. The bottom of the containerhas a concave cavity 46 formed upwardly therefrom to provide an annularwell 48 of reduced lateral dimension for accurate volume readings ofsmall fluid amounts.

Container 14 also maintains its frustroconical cup-like shape in apost-use condition with fluid therein. This is important for disposalhandling because of the structural integrity provided thereby. This isalso important because it provides substantial resistance to bursting orpuncture to which flexible bag-like liners are susceptible. Thispost-use shape retention further provides an enhanced annular seal withthe cover when discarded as a unit. This eliminates problems oflocalized stress on the liner sidewalls and nonuniform stress along theannular seal with the cover caused by a bag depending therefrom andchanging its shape upon fluid surges therein during disposal handling.The present invention provides a uniform annular discard seal withoutlocalized areas of stretching susceptible to breakaway.

Rigid outer canister 12 also affords advantageous space saving pre-usestacking. The canister is a rigid cup-like member formed from a suitabletransparent plastic, for example, polycarbonate, and has afrustroconical shape with a centrally raised bottom section 50 and anannular step ring 52 for supporting the bottom of the next stackedcanister. The vertical height of step ring 52 is slightly greater thanthe vertical dimension between vacuum port 20 and rim 34. This providessupport of succeedingly stacked canisters without vacuum port 20 of anupper canister resting on rim 34 of the immediately lower canister. Thisavoids stressing of the joint between vacuum port 20 and canister 12.

Referring to FIG. 3, the mounting assembly and sealing and supportingcoaction of the parts is shown. Container 14 is preferably sonicallyspot welded to lid 30, as at points 32. Annular lid 30 is a plasticmember, for example, high impact styrene, having an outer arcuateportion 54 which may be snap-fitted frictionally onto rounded outer edge36 of canister rim 34. Obliquely extending from arcuate portion 54 is aperipheral leg 56 having a lateral foot 58 at the end thereof. Leg 56and foot 58 provide a rim easily grasped to facilitate installation,removal and subsequent handling. Extending inwardly from arcuate portion54 along the top of canister rim 34 is lateral sealing portion 42 whichextends beyond the inner top edge 60 of the canister. The lid thenextends downwardly to form an inner cylindrical wall portion 40. Wallportion 40 abuts the interior surface of the sidewall of canister 12.Wall portion 40 supports the exterior surface of the sidewall ofcontainer 14 near the top thereof to establish a gap 44 between canister12 and container 14.

Lid 30 has a plurality of upstanding locking tabs 38 adjacent arcuateperipheral portion 54. These locking tabs have inwardly extending noseportions 62 with tapered upper surfaces 64 allowing cover 16 to bepushed down thereon, laterally deflecting the locking tabs 38 outwardly,followed by laterally inward snapping back thereof to lock the cover inplace. The cover is a plastic member, such as high impact styrene,having an outer lower tapered surface 66 facilitating this pushed downsnap-fit type mounting. Cover 16 has a downwardly extending annular lug68 adjacent the outer periphery thereof and lid 30 has an upwardlyextending annular lug 70 incentric to lug 68 for interfitted registrytherewith in detented relation.

Lateral portion 42 of the lid has a transition step 72 upward to araised shoulder portion 74 of increased vertical thickness at the innerperipheral of lid 30. Open-mouthed container 14 has an annular laterallip or rim 76 with an inner portion 78 and an outer thicker portion 80.Thicker portion 80 is disposed between transition step 72 and raised lug70 to the lid. Cover 16 has a downwardly extending frustroconicallytapered annular flange 82 extending below the lower extension of wallportion 40 of the lid. Flange 82 bears against the inner wall ofcontainer 14 to provide additional sealing. Lateral rim 34 of thecanister has an annular recess 84 formed therein disposed below registerlugs 68 and 70. This recess 84 provides an inner annular support surface86 below transition step 72. Recess 84 also provides an outer annularsupport surface 88 below locking tab 38.

Annular lip 76 of container 14 is sealingly compressed between cover 16and lateral sealing portion 42 of lid 30. The sealing stress forcesprovided by the present invention are significant. Thinner inner portion78 of the container lip 76 is compressed between the cover 16 and theraised inner thicker section 74 of the lid which is in turn supportedfrom below by inner support surface 86 forming a top pressure surface ofthe canister rim. This arrangement provides localized increased sealingforce along an annular ring. Support surface 86 also extends laterallybelow transition step 72. This supports the thickness transition in lip76.

Inner support surface 86 further extends laterally partially belowthicker outer portion 80 of the container lip 76. An effective lever armis formed laterally along the cover 16 from an area adjacent inner lipportion 78 and transition step 72 to the outer edge 90 of the coverbelow locking tab noise 62. There is a small gap 71 above lug 70 andanother small gap 69 below lug 68. These gaps 71 and 69 ensure clearancefor mounting the cover past nose 62. These gaps 71 and 69 further enableslight cantilever-like downward bending of the cover to hold thecontainer lip 76 in biased compression. This lever arm effect furtherprovides an annular stress line along transition step 72 to furtherenhance sealing. Sealing force is further enhanced and localized byinner support surface 86 of the canister rim providing an annular stressspan bridging regions 78 and 80 across transition 72.

The lever arm effect afforded by the present invention is particularlyadvantageous for sealing purposes because it provides resilient biasingforce which maintains continuous seal compression. The verticaldimension of downwardly extending annular lug 68 provides structuralintegrity around the periphery of the cover to enhance uniformity ofdownward lever arm bending force applied by locking tabs 38. Thisprovides substantial annular uniformity in compression of lip 76.

The invention further includes additional sealing in a different planethan that aforedescribed. Cover flange 82 and wall portion 40 of the lidcompress an upper portion 92 of the liner sidewall therebetween in agenerally vertical plane. is vertical sealing plane is continuous withthe lateral sealing plane through lip 76 and provides significantlyimproved sealing properties in combination therewith.

Further vertical plane sealing, particularly of gap 44, is provided bycompression of wall portion 40 between the canister and containersidewalls. This seal enables elimination of annular lateral canister rim34 if desired. Such rim is preferred, however, because of the additionalsealing afforded thereby.

Sealing of gap 44 is enhanced by the localization of stress forceprovided by support surface 86 and support surface 88, each providingannular stress lines affording improved sealing of gap 44. The gap isfurther sealed by the snap-fit frictional force engagement of arcuateportion 54 against outer edge 36 of the canister rim.

Sealing is further enhanced by the nonrectilinear interface engagementsurfaces of the components, particularly the tortuous escape pathpresented to any potential leakage. The interface between container 14and lid 30 provided by transition step 72 and variant thickness portions78 and 80 is particularly tortuous, and hence affords additionalenhanced sealing characteristics. The interface of the canister 12 andlid 30 is also resistive to leakage because of the arcuate path aroundthe outer canister rim edge 36, and because of the inflection point at60. The interface between the cover 16 and the container 14 has aninflection point at 94, and thus is also resistive to leakage.

The invention affords a fast, simple and efficient mounting which isparticularly beneficial when it is desired to assemble the apparatusjust prior to use to alleviate the space-wasting hospital shelf storageof assembled units. Container 14 with lid 30 thereon is simplysnap-fitted downwardly into the canister before or after simple downwardsnap-fitting cover 16. Seal formation is reliable and consistent,without the need for special tools or assembly techniques. Insertion oflid 30 onto canister rim 34 accurately and securely positions containing14 depending from the canister rim. Furthermore, this sets the gap 44between the container 14 and canister 12 due to wall portion 40.

During pushdown mounting of the cover 16, annular flange 82 providesinitial guidance of the cover along the inner wall of container 14.Container 14 is backed by supporting wall portion 40. This maintainsproper guided alignment of the cover during laterally outward deflectionof locking tabs 38. This also prevents distortion or canting of sealinglid 30 during mounting of cover 16.

A particular advantageous feature of the invention is the enhanced sealprovided during release of lid 30 from canister 12. This enablesdisposal of container 14 and cover 16 as a sealed sanitary unit.Referring to FIG. 3, disassembly is effected by upward and outwarddeflection of peripheral foot 58 to move inner bottom edge 96 of arcuateportion 54 past the outermost extension of outer edge 36 of the canisterrim, and thus effect disengagement of this releasable gripping means.During this deflection of foot 58, lid 30 will flex at an inflectionpoint somewhere along arcuate portion 54 or lateral portion 42, eitherof which causes slight inward tilting of lock tab 38 and hence slightdownward tilting on nose 62. This increases the downward force on outeredge 90 of cover 16, thus causing a momentary increase in sealingpressure. An inflection near the inward sections of lateral portion 42causes slight upward movement thereof, and hence increased compressionof lip 76. It is thus seen that during release of lid 30, there is nodegradation of the seal between the cover and liner.

After removal of container 14 and cover 16 as a unit from canister 12,annular peripheral foot 58 and leg 56 provide convenient handling meansfor disposal of the unit. Upwardly extending annular lug 70 anddownwardly extending wall portion 40 provide substantial peripheralstructural integrity in a post-use condition to maintain sealing of thecontained fluid. Annular cover flange 82 is combination with lockedouter edge 90 provide additional structural integrity to maintain theseal. Since the container 14 retains its shape in a post-use conditionwith fluid contained therein, annular uniformity of stress along the lip76 is maintained. This eliminates isolated stretched areas to which ashape-changing bag-like liner would be susceptible in response to fluidshifts during handling which may cause breakaway of the seal.Furthermore, since the container shape is maintained, disposal handlingrequirements and techniques are greatly simplified, particularly in theprotective packaging otherwise needed to prevent bulging and rupture orpuncture of flexible bag-like liners.

FIG. 4 shows an alternate embodiment of the mounting arrangement of FIG.3, and uses like reference numerals for ease of understanding. Lid 30has a wall portion 95 which is spaced inwardly of the interior surfaceof the sidewall of canister 12. Rim 34 may be like that of FIG. 3 or mayhave a deeper annular recess 98 in its top surface. An annular flexiblegasket 100 is disposed in recess 98 and and is engaged by a downwardlyextending annular lug 102 from lid 30 to provide extra sealing of gap44.

It is recognized that various modifications are possible in the scope ofthe appended claims.

I claim:
 1. An assembly method for receptacles which receive fluids fromthe body of a patient, providing space saving pre-use storage ofreceptacle components, and fast, simple assembly at time of use,comprising:stacking one within another a plurality of interchangeablere-usable rigid outer canisters for pre-use storage thereof; stackingone within another a plurality of interchangeable disposable semi-rigidinner containers for pre-use storage thereof; providing a plurality ofinterchangeable covers each having a first port means for fluidreception and a second port means for receiving a vacuum; removing oneof the inner containers and one of the canisters from pre-use storageand inserting the container within the canister; covering the containerand canister by pushing one of the covers thereon into coaction with thecontainer; applying a vacuum source to the second port means forcreating a vacuum in the inner container; and attaching a tube betweenthe body of the patient and the first port means for drainage of fluidstherefrom.
 2. The invention according to claim 1 further comprisingcoacting said cover, container and canister in sealed relation upon saidpushing of said cover thereon.
 3. The invention according to claim 2wherein said coacting seals the interior of the container and also sealsa space between the container and canister.
 4. The invention accordingto claim 3 wherein the step of applying the vacuum comprises apply thevacuum to the interior of the container and to the space between thecontainer and the canister, to draw fluid through said port means intothe container.
 5. The invention according to claim 2 further comprisinga simple and sanitary disassembly and disposal methodcomprising:disengaging the coaction of the container and canister andsimultaneously maintaining coaction of the cover and container;disposing of the cover and container as a sealed unit; and retaining thecanister for re-use.
 6. The invention according to claim 1 wherein thecontainer has an outer lip, and further comprising concurrently withsaid covering step:resiliently compressing both the sidewall and the lipof the container.